Chapter 4901:7-1 General Provisions

(A)
This chapter is adopted in compliance
with, and under the authority of division (B) of section
4901.021 and division (F) of
section 121.22 of the Revised
Code.

(B)
All meetings of the
nominating council at which official action is taken and deliberation upon
official business is conducted shall be opened to the public. For the purpose
of this rule, the term "meeting" shall mean any prearranged discussion of the
public business of the nominating council by a majority of its members. All
resolutions, rules, or formal action of any kind shall be adopted in an open
meeting of the nominating council. Consistent with division (C) of section
4901.021 of the Revised Code,
six members, or their alternates, constitute a quorum.

(C)
The nominating council may hold an
executive session for the sole purpose of the consideration of a matter
contained in division (G) of section
121.22 of the Revised Code. Such
executive session may be held only at a meeting for which notice has been given
in accordance with rule
4901:7-1-03 of the
Administrative Code, and only after a majority of a quorum of the nominating
council determines, by a roll call vote, to hold such a session.

(D)
Meetings of the nominating council may be
recessed for up to three business days.

(A)
Any person may determine the time, place, and purpose of all regularly
scheduled, special, and emergency meetings of the nominating council by
submitting a written request to: "PUC Nominating Council Coordinator,
c/o Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, 180 East
Broad Street, 4th Floor, Columbus, Ohio 43215."
Requests shall include the name, address, telephone number, and email address
of the person making the request.

(B)
Notice of regularly scheduled meetings
shall be emailed
to those persons who have requested to receive notice,
unless regular mail is specifically requested, not less than five days
prior to the date of the meeting. If an email is sent, the subject of the email
shall be entitled "PUC nominating council meeting notice."

(C)
If a special meeting of the nominating
council is scheduled, notice of the meeting will be made by email or, if requested, telephone no later than twenty-four
hours prior to the special meeting. Calls will be made during the normal
business hours of the public utilities commission of Ohio. Such notice shall be
complete if an email has been sent or if a telephone message has been left with
a representative of the person to whom notice is being provided or if, after
reasonable effort, the nominating council coordinator or his or her designated
caller has been unable to provide such notice.

(D)
Notice of regularly scheduled meetings
shall be provided to the public utilities commission for inclusion in the
meeting agenda distributed weekly by the commission.

(E)
Members of the news media who wish to be
notified if an emergency meeting of the nominating council is scheduled should
indicate on their request that they are a member of the news media, the news
agency that they represent, and a request to be notified when an emergency
meeting is scheduled. Notice of emergency meetings will only be given to one
representative of any particular news agency.

(F)
If an emergency meeting of the nominating
council is scheduled, notice of the meeting will be made by email or
telephone, if requested, to members of the news
media who have requested notification. Calls will be made during the normal
business hours of the public utilities commission of Ohio. Such notice shall be
complete if an email has been sent or if a telephone
message has been left with a representative of the person to whom notice is
being provided or if, after reasonable effort, the coordinator of the
nominating council or his or her designated caller has been unable to provide
such notice.

(G)
The coordinator of
the nominating council may request that persons verify in writing that they
wish to remain on the list of persons to be notified of meetings of the
nominating council. The coordinator shall not make such a request more frequent
than once in a two-year period.

(A)
Members of the nominating council shall
annually select a chairperson and secretary from among its members. The
selection shall be made at the first meeting of each calendar year. The
selection of the chairperson and secretary shall be by a simple majority vote
of the quorum.

(B)
Unless removed
from office or replaced as a member of the nominating council, the term of
office for the chairperson and secretary shall be until the first meeting of
the nominating council held the following calendar year. The chairperson or
secretary may be removed from office by a simple majority vote of a quorum at
any regularly scheduled or special meeting.

(C)
The chairperson of the nominating council
shall preside over the meetings of the council, schedule meetings of the
council, cause notice of the meetings to be provided to members of the nominating council and to
those members of the public and news media who have requested notice, approve
the language of any publications or notices required to fulfill the obligations
of the nominating council, cause such publications to occur, and perform such
other duties as required to enable the members of the nominating council to
perform their duties.

(D)
The
secretary of the nominating council shall record the minutes of the meetings. A
complete transcript of a meeting, except an executive session, may be
substituted for the minutes. If the nominating council holds an executive
session, the minutes or transcript shall state the matter to be considered in
the session. A draft copy of the minutes or a transcript shall be prepared
within fifteen days of each meeting. A copy of the minutes or the transcript of
each meeting shall be available for public inspection at the offices of the
public utilities commission of Ohio.

(E)
If the chairperson has been removed from
office or replaced as a member of the nominating council or has otherwise
relinquished the position or is not present at a meeting, the
secretary shall assume the duties of the chairperson.
The secretary may appoint another member of the nominating council to assume
temporarily the duties of the secretary.

(F)
If the nominating council is without a
chairperson and secretary, the coordinator of the nominating council shall
schedule a meeting of the nominating council and cause notice of the meeting to
be sent to members of the nominating council upon receipt of a written
request signed by at least two members of the nominating council.

(G)
The coordinator of the nominating council
shall be a full-time employee of the public utilities commission of Ohio
designated by the commission to assist the nominating council in the
performance of its duties. The coordinator shall work with the chairperson and
secretary of the nominating council to ensure that notice of requests for
applications for the position of commissioner and notice of meetings occur, to
gather and distribute to members of the nominating council copies of documents
submitted by applicants for the position of commissioner, to schedule
applicants for interviews as requested by members of the nominating council, to
gather from and distribute information to members of the nominating council,
and such other duties as directed by the chairperson or secretary of the
nominating council.

(A)
Unless directed
otherwise by the chairperson, the coordinator shall cause the publication of
the notice, as shown in the appendix to this rule, to appear in the Akron
Beacon Journal, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Plain Dealer (Cleveland), the
Columbus Dispatch, Dayton Daily News, the Blade (Toledo), and the Vindicator
(Youngstown) once a week for two consecutive weeks, beginning not sooner than
December ten nor later than December thirty-one.

(B)
The first
publication of the notice (appendix A to this rule) shall be made in its
entirety and may be made in a preprinted insert in the newspaper. The notice
shall contain a statement of the website posting and instructions for accessing
the posting. The second publication may be abbreviated if all of the following
apply:

(1)
The
abbreviated notice is at least half the size of the notice in the first
publication.

(2)
At the same time the abbreviated notice is published,
the notice in the first publication is posted in its entirety on the public
utilities commission of Ohio's website.

(3)
The abbreviated
notice contains a statement of the website posting and instructions for
accessing the posting.

(C)
With the
approval of the chairperson, the coordinator shall determine a format for the
content of all notices required under this section, and shall consider costs
and technological efficiencies in making that determination. Defects in the
publication of said notice shall not affect the legality or sufficiency of
notices published.

(D)
The coordinator shall provide the names of all
applicants or all applicants selected to be interviewed by the nominating
council to any person requesting the names.

Following the death of, resignation of, or termination of
service by a commissioner of the public utilities commission, the nominating
council coordinator shall consult with the chairperson of the nominating
council to establish an expedited schedule for soliciting applications and for
evaluating applicants for the vacated position.

If multiple vacancies exist or are anticipated on the public
utilities commission that could result in the lack of a quorum necessary to
conduct business, the nominating council shall act with the utmost expediency
to identify the four most fully qualified individuals to accede to the office
of commissioner for each vacant position and forward their names to the
governor. The chairperson is empowered to take the necessary actions to enable
the members of the nominating council to perform their duties. Without limiting
those who may be considered, the nominating council may consider persons who
have applied for a commissioner position in the previous five years.

Notwithstanding rule
4901:7-1-03 of the
Administrative Code, when multiple vacancies exist or are anticipated on the
public utilities commission that could result in the lack of a quorum necessary
to conduct business, notice of meetings of the nominating council shall be
deemed sufficient if the notice given substantially complies with the notice
requirements of rule
4901:7-1-03 of the
Administrative Code or if the notice complies with the requirements of section
121.22 of the Revised
Code.